To The People
Posted: April 15, 2011 Filed under: News Leave a comment
To the people who view my blog regularly, or at all, thank you very much for your support. I appreciate you more than anything, especially because most of you are people that are close to me. However, my blogging that occurs for this site will be pretty limited for the coming months because of the awesome opportunity that I was given to intern/blog for Complex Magazine. Rather than posting music here, I will be posting music regularly for the Complex blog. Whether or not you care about me blogging for them, you should check out their website and magazine, because both are awesome. Anyway, I will blog every once in a while for In The Headphones, but here are some links to the Complex sites that you might find interesting:
Complex website: http://complex.com
Complex blog posts: http://complex.com/news
Complex MUSIC blog posts: http://complex.com/music
Complex blog posts by ME: http://www.complex.com/author/eric-michels
Thank you again to those that have been reading/viewing In The Headphones. I am very proud of this site that I created several months ago, and I will continue to post music on it every so often (and more than that in the future).
Sade – The Moon And The Sky (Remix) (feat. Jay-Z)
Posted: April 12, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Jay-Z, Noah "40" Shebib, Sade Leave a comment
Shawn Carter is unsurprisingly the first rapper to ever collaborate with Sade. The result is awesome. This is also produced by Drake’s right-hand-man Noah “40” Shebib, which is ironic because Drizzy had publicly stated a desire to work with the British singer.
Ab-Soul – Rapper Shit (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Posted: April 12, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar Leave a comment
A 6 minute rapping extravaganza from Solo & K-Dot. These dudes go in for ab-soul-utely no reason, considering this track was left off of Long Term Mentality. But I am not complaining, and neither should you.
STS – The People [Video]
Posted: April 6, 2011 Filed under: Music Videos | Tags: Sean C & LV, STS Leave a comment
This track, off Slim’s mixtape Demand More 2, was produced by Sean C & LV and it is one of the first songs that convinced me of his lyrical skill. And overall he is just a dope artist, as exemplified by this video.
Thurz – Los Angeles
Posted: April 6, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Thurz Leave a comment
We haven’t heard much solo music from this half of U-N-I, but this song is niiiiiiiiiice. Hard drums and a crazy trumpet sample. I just hope Thurz & Y-O haven’t split up U-N-I, because together they create classic material. However, this will definitely do for now.
Click the arrow to download ^
Chiddy Bang – Heatwave (feat. Mac Miller)
Posted: April 5, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Chiddy, Chiddy Bang, Mac Miller, Xaphoon Jones Leave a comment
Well this is an unsurprising and gratifying collaboration. These youngins are all doing their thing, and this song displays what they all do best- Mac & Chiddy spit real well over a beat with an ill sample from Xaphoon ==> FTW! Shouts to my girl rgindz for the hook up.
Donnis – Ford Mustang
Posted: April 5, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Donnis Leave a comment
Donnis doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He is a good rapper, and he has nice beat selection. He was reasonably upset when XXL shit on his past year of work in their most recent issue. Hopefully his upcoming mixtape (that drops on April 12th) Southern Lights will display his talent and potential. For now, this track off the project is a good example. Don’t sleep, because he is going to succeed whether the haters like it or not. And because sleep is the cousin of death.
Omen – Prayer
Posted: April 5, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Omen Leave a comment
J. Cole’s long time partner-in-crime drops some self-produced magic. He has always had conscious subject matter, and this is another good example. Back in 2006, he released a really good tape called Do The Right Thing, which had a couple features from Cole, then known as Therapist. You can download that tape here.
Prayer: Listen & Download
Ab-Soul – Long Term Mentality
Posted: April 5, 2011 Filed under: Mixtapes | Tags: Ab-Soul, Black Hippy, Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Murs, ScHoolboy Q, Sounwave, Tae Beast Leave a comment
This is the best project that I have heard all year. I don’t know how many entire projects I have listened to, but this is easily the best. Mr. Solo is not very well known. In fact, he is probably the least well known member of rap group Black Hippy. However, this album/mixtape/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is awesome. He is an incredible rapper, and this is the best music I have heard out of him. I am also sure it is going to only get better from here, which is exciting. Do yourself, and this “broke and almost famous” rapper, a favor by spending six bucks on the project. Features include Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Murs. Production comes from Sounwave and Tae Beast, as well as others. Read more for the track list and the iTunes link.
Jelani – OK, You’re Up (prod. by Durkin)
Posted: April 5, 2011 Filed under: Songs | Tags: Durkin, Jelani Leave a comment
Jelani just sent this track over to me, and this is what he had to say about its creation:
The first time I heard this beat, the only thing I could think about is performing it live and the reaction it would bring. That said…. I loosely based the concept around that initial feeling and just ran with it.
The truth is, this track bangs. I’m sure it is gonna be dope when performed live. Black EL & Jelani gotta set up a show in NYC!
In The Headphones 